Rick Perry is “Slick Rick”

I have heard some people call Texas Governor Rick Perry Bush on steroids. While that may be true, upon closer examination due to his political beliefs I believe he has earned the right to be called Slick Rick. He is more of a con man and snake oil salesman than a political leader.

The first con job he will pull is the idea that he guided Texas through the recession in an almost Biblical fashion. However, the Texas constitution gives the governor much less power than most governors. In adition, as Nobel Prize winning columnist Paul Krugman points out, this was due mostly to the high cost of oil. Remember we had oil men in the White House. And it was due to Texas’s strict mortgage lending policies. But remember, Slick Rick is against government regulation.

Now let’s talk about health. In Texas there were 100,000 women in the Women’s Health Program. However, he has not allowed Planned Parenthood to be reimbursed for providing services. In addition, as of September 1, 2011, 180,000 Texans of both genders will be denied birth control and other important health screenings. One in four Texans are without health insurance, that’s the highest in the nation. Moreover, he has called Medicaid and Medicare “Ponzi” schemes which is ignorant even for Slick Rick.

Next comes Jobs. Perry likes to talk about how he knows what to do to create jobs. However the Texas unemployment rate in July was 8.4%. Lower than California and and Ohio, but not as low as New Mexico and New York. No miracles there Slick.

Taxes. He was asked at a town hall meeting about them and he said to read his book “Fed Up” where he advocates for repealing the 16th amendment. The one that allows the federal government to collect taxes. He has since backed of that and his campaign said the book was not meant to be a blueprint for a Perry presidency. Then what was it, a work of fiction. In 2003 when he had to close a 27 billion dollar whole in the budget he did so by using accounting tricks and inflating revenue projections.

Finally, as was pointed out to me by Buckeye State Blog, Reuters has reported that Perry tried to have a member of the Texas Waste Commission removed because he disagreed with Perry’s goal to expand a nuclear waste facility. He offered to give dissenter Bobby Gregory a seat on the Texas Board of Regents, a more high profile job, but Gregory refused. The person who stood to gain from expansion of the facility was Harold Simmons and his company Waste Control Specialists LLC. Simmons has given over one million dollars to Slick Rick’s gubernatorial campaigns.

He’s against health care, he doesn’t really now how to create jobs, he flip flops on statements, he wants to do away with taxes, medicare, medicaid and most social programs. Plus he’s loyal to a fault if you give him a large campaign contribution. With his extreme political beliefs the only way he can get the middle class to vote against their own self interest is to dazzle them with B.S. That’s the way a con man and a snake oil salesman win elections.

Sources:
The Texas Unmiracle, by Paul Krugman
The Sketchy Fundraising Apparatus of Rick Perry’s Go-To Bundler, by Josh Harkinson
Perry sought to sideline nuclear waste site critic, By Chris Baltimore, Peter Henderson and Karen Brooks
Rick Perry vs. the Tea Party, by Tim Murphy
Rick Perry on the Issues: Family Planning, by Chaille Jolink
Why Do Conservatives Get a Pass?, by Kevin Drum

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Tags: Con Man, Presidential Race, Rick Perry, Snake Oil, Texas